


Stargazer

by the-canary (siruru)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Awkward Crush, Co-workers, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Requited Unrequited Love, Secret Crush, Set Up, Slow Dancing, Strangers to Lovers, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, gala party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 11:04:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18409340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siruru/pseuds/the-canary
Summary: There’s a gala and your dear friend finally decides to do something about your crush – Nat decides to do the same for Bucky as well.





	Stargazer

**Author's Note:**

> : this was for the @themaskedwriter challenge. congrats on the people that figured it out! there have been some changes/edits here and there. also, if you want music to accompany the ballroom scenes my dear friend made a playlist!
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated.

_All Stark Industry employees are welcomed to this year’s fundraiser gala. The event will be held in […]. Please remember to wear your finest and hide your face so the world will never find you!_

_–Anthony and Virginia Stark._

* * *

_“Did you see the email?”_

_“Yeah, it was a massive email blast. I am sure everyone saw it.”_

_“You know that’s not what I mean, James.”_

_“No, I really don’t know what you mean, Nat.”_

* * *

“So, do you plan on going?”

You frown at the question, giving the email one more glance before turning up to see Sam grinning at you as he took another sip of his coffee. The twinkle in his eyes seemed permanent, but you didn’t want to deal with it, especially with the lack of sleep in the past 48 hours.

“I don’t know, Sam,” you grumble before pointing at the giant machine that was taking up most of the space in your shared lab with one Bruce Banner, though he had left and hopefully knocked out after his own sleepless four-day run, “I’m sort of trying to make this giant machine work before the next Expo.”

It was the complete truth – you and Bruce had been just one team that was working on a functioning engine for the future Stark Car, but like everyone else you weren’t having any progress. It was the anniversary of the Stark Expo and one Mr. Stark felt it was necessary to finally show some progress and what his father had shown years ago, though there hadn’t much progress at all on the project since them.

“And since it is going to be one of the main attractions,” Sam starts off, playing devil’s advocate with you like always, ”You should consider putting some dedication to that—mppf!”  

Sam lets out a huff an air as you see a certain brunette and redhead walk across your little workspace, heads together and ignoring the rest of the world around them as you let out a little lovesick sigh.

“You can’t seriously think that I could compete against that,” you murmur in utter defeat while staring at Sam for a brief second. You let out a huff of air in annoyance before getting up and going to see what you are going to get for lunch before deciding to pass out in one of the break rooms within the building.

You just weren’t aware that there were two pairs of eyes watching the entire time.   

* * *

_“They aren’t going to ask each other out, are they?”_

_“I doubt it.”_

_“I guess it’s up to us then!”_

* * *

You end up sleeping straight through the end of the work day after lunch, but instead of going straight back to work the aches flooding your back and neck and realizing that you haven’t changed in a couple of days makes Sam send you back home before you can think of doing anything else. You end up walking towards the subway station when you notice him – sitting outside of a Starbucks with a drink and computer in front of him, confused but determined about whatever he was doing at the moment.

You and one James Buchanan Barnes had entered in the same department around the same time and while you struggled here and there with your work alongside Bruce Banner, James always seemed to some new idea that he and Dr. Romanoff were working on.

It was lovely and frustrating to see, though you were sure somewhere along the line you–

A familiar redhead soon joins him and your heart deflates for a second. You let out a sigh before taking the stairs down and away from such a sight.

* * *

_“Don’t worry everything will be under Stark’s credit card.”_

_“How the hell did you do that?”_

_“He owes me. Now, time to play fairy godmother to these numbskulls.”_

* * *

In the following weeks after the announcement of the gala, Sam doesn’t ask you once more if you are going or not, though you hear through the grapevine that both James and Natasha are. For a brief second every once and awhile you get lost in your little daydream of being able to dance with the man – though you knew it was a faraway dream since you didn’t know how to dance or even approach him if he wasn’t already dating the beautiful genius.

“Hurry!” Dr. Banner’s yell pulls out of your depressing thoughts, as he motions you to get in front of the little console you had set up outside to the control the car.

The little thing stutters once then twice, as Bruce screams from his seat in the car while motioning at you with awkward hand signals what you should be doing next. The engine pops a little bit a smoke before stabilizing completely and hovering in midair.

You and Bruce both scream in delight, as a small group starts to gather around the glass doors of your lab with wide eyes and clapping all around. You swear that you see a flash a blue from the sweater that James had decide to wear today, but you push aside at the sound of Mr. Stark’s exclamation over the sight that his father could never accomplish.

By the end of the day, whether you like it or not you and Dr. Banner are both gala bound.   

* * *

Once Sam hears the news, he can’t stop grinning as he makes you go last minute to get a dress because nothing in your closet will do for such an event, he had said so himself. Thus, you spend most of the weekend being dragged around by your best friend to all the high-end dress places in New York, though you aren’t quite sure who is buying and Sam just smiles and tells you not to worry.

“Well, you’re going to turn heads with that one,” Sam finally remarks with a laugh as he makes you twirl.

You end up glancing in the mirror once more with a bright smile and a little laugh, because even though you might be going alone and your crush was with someone else – you were drinking and eating all you could grab your hands on.

However, before ending the shopping spree – Sam has one more trip to take with you on the other side of Brooklyn with that large shit-eating grin of his that sends you into high alert. You grab your bags a bit tighter than before as you stop in front of a little red-brick building with the word  ** _PSYCHIC_** painted on the glass.

You frown, unsure what is going on, as Sam laughs.

“What are we doing here?” you can’t help but ask as you wait for someone to appear after Sam has rung the bell on top of the glass table that is filled with candles, chalks, various stones and a little tree that seems to be greeting anyone that comes in. It bothers you just a little, but whatever Sam is planning bothers you even more.

“I know you need a confidence boost,” Sam starts explaining, as you look at him, ”I usually come here when I need something of the sort.”

Your eyebrows shot up for a second at the sound of his awkward laugh and sudden confession, before smiling: “Does it work?”

“It really depends.” he winks at you, as the psychic calling herself Wanda finally comes out to greet Sam and start whatever she has planned for you. ‘

However, the strangest thing out of the hour-long session is when she smiles at you and declares:  _You’ll meet a fish by a fountain soon._

You aren’t quite so sure where you are supposed to do with that piece of information.

* * *

_“She’s actually going.  So, what are you going to do about it, Romeo?”_

_“I really don’t know, Nat.”_

* * *

The Stark Expo Anniversary Gala is nothing short of beautiful with it being set up near the waterfront where Howard Stark had his own humble beginning and was now home to Stark Industries’ Brooklyn base. High ceiling, bright lights with people dressed to the nines, and some even with masks on, caused you to pause at the entrance for a moment before you feel someone push you just a bit.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” the voice behind you states and you swear you stop to see a nervous smiling James, though completely different from his loose hair, sweaters, and lab coat that you have seen him in most of the time.

“It’s all right, I was just trying to prep myself,” you admit bashfully, starting at anything but the man in the dark blue suit that match his eyes with slicked back and a killer smile.

_Damn, Romanoff was a lucky woman._

“Do you,” his voice breaks for a second, “Do you need someone to escort you inside? If you want to?”

You have to pause for a moment and actually think about what he is saying, your mouth gaping slightly as you kill the both of you just a bit with your silence, but you end up giving him a small smile.

“Yes, it would help a lot actually,” you end up admitting and you swear his smile grows just a bit more as he places his arm in front of you to hold it.

“Anything for you,” James states with a twinkle in his eyes, as you wrap your arm around his arm and head inside.

In your excitement, you don’t notice the stars and city lights twinkling on a certain surface.

* * *

However, as quickly as you get James to yourself for a brief moment, you are pushed as quickly away as Mr. Stark makes you do rounds with Dr. Banner to all the people that are excited to see what you two had in store. You don’t see Sam anywhere throughout the whole night, though he had promised that he would be there, though you were finding yourself meeting a certain set of blue eyes whenever you looked around.

You would smile and James would sometimes smile or laugh, only for you to turn back more bashful than before. Dr. Romanoff wasn’t in the gala either, so you weren’t sure how to feel deep down about the attention you were getting from him tonight.  

And as the demonstrations and speeches moved the evening, you eventually found yourself in front of everyone trying to explain the success of the car and paying special tribute to Back to the Future with the “Science Bros” taking the reins when it becomes too much. The bright lights and millions of questions became too much after everything was said and done, as you found yourself sitting outside beside the fountain and taking deep breaths in order to calm down.

“Hey, hey,” that voice that has been haunting you all night decides to show up once more as you feel a hand over yours and rubbing calm and easy circles on top of it, “Take a deep breathe and count. Only pay attention to my voice.”

You let out a little whimper, it had been the thing that you had been avoiding since meeting him during the employee orientation all those years ago, but here he was playing with your heart when all you wanted to do at the moment was disappear regardless of a successful showing.     

“You’re just making it worse,” you say in a shaky breath as he stops moving. You look at him with the best glare that you can muster, as there is nothing but question in those pretty blues of his, “You shouldn’t do all this if you’re already dating someone else. It’ll give someone the wrong idea.”

“I–” he stutters a bit unsure, “Who am I dating?”

“Dr. Romanoff,” you exclaim pulling your hand away from his and you try to ignore that brief hurt in his eyes, “I know that she isn’t here, but you shouldn’t–”

James gives out a laugh, which angers just a bit more as you get up ready to head back inside before getting your heart bruised any further. However, he pulls you back as you stand face to face.

“I’m not dating Natasha, sweetheart,” your eyes widen at his statement as it appears that there is a switch that goes off in him. James isn’t shy anymore as he leans in a bit more into your personal space. A crooked but rueful smile on his face, as he places one hand on your hip and the other on your cheek.

“In fact, she’s always getting on my case about asking someone out,” he keeps going as you stare at him with wide eyes, as he also states that Natasha never stopped bothering him about his crush – like Sam did with you.

“W-who do you like?” you let out in one breathe, angry slowly giving away to confusion and anticipation as his thumb grazes your cheek softly.

“I thought it had been obvious that I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off of you the whole damn night,” he breathes out, he leans in a bit more. You let out a sound like a wounded animal at this revelation that makes him laugh.

“And if I said the feeling was mutual?” you state, as he lets out a small, delirious chuckle.

“Then, I’ve gotta make up for lost time and share a dance with you,” James grins as you nod with sudden enthusiasm, “And maybe to a date later on.”

“Yes, yes to both,” you let out your own giggle before you lean in to kiss on the cheek – an interlude to all that you had planned now that your feelings were set free as he guides you back into the building to share the rest of the night. The fountain and loneliness you had felt for such a long time slowly being forgotten.

James smiles and you realize that the feeling is mutual as you think of Wanda’s words for a brief moment while staring at the dark sky above for such a second before looking at the stars in front of you before heading back inside.  

You’ll meet a fish by a fountain soon.

It’s much later on that you come to find out that James is actually a Pisces.


End file.
